Friday Night Tweets: Big Ben and Domestic Politics

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, France, and Mexico........


We are closing out July with three consecutive blog entries (hmmm.....yea, we changed our mind), this one is dedicated to tweets that were posted during the 9-10 p.m., eastern US time, many of which dealt with the partisan political divide in the country.......

1) Big Ben (yeah, that clock in London, pict. top): BONG BONG

2) UbertFacts: Osama bin Laden was obsessed with Whitney Houston (pict. late) and wanted to make her one of his wives (alas the pop singer died a few years ago as did Osama)....

3) The Daily Signal: Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky; pict: bottom) commits to Planned Parenthood defunding vote next week (He does NOT have the support of comedian Sarah Silverman who mocked pro-life groups with a video that is causing quite a stir)

4) Urban Dictionary: White Man_ A term used to describe a group of people who are blamed for all the problems in the world.

5) Adam Owens (A tv news reporter for WRAL, Raleigh, NC): Raleigh Police investigate fatal accident on Roy Road....

6) Psychological Facts: If you think someone is starting at you: 1. Yawn 2. If they yawn, they were staring

7) Martin DeGarmo: The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers (a quote from Ralph Nader as the tweeter cited)

8) Jon Winokur (Advice to Writers): Talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it. (a quote from Maya Angelou as the tweeter cited).

9) The Job Guy: "The only limits are, as always, those of vision," James Broughton, a late American poet.

http://www.dailysignal.com

http://www.urbandictionary.com

http://www.job-guy.com (This might not be the same job guy we mentioned!) 

NCAA Gymnastic Champions Tweets: Greetings from Forth Worth, Texas

The NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships are underway in Forth Worth, Texas, which is not where we actually are. But, even though some local folks may be more interested in the Assassination City Roller Derby match in Dallas, Tex., given that no Texas Superconference school has a women's gymnastics program, we thought we'd post some tweets from some of the participating schools.

We are going with an image of former North Carolina State Wolfpack gymnast Ashley Shepard to show neutrality as the school did qualify at regionals for the championships, and we wanted to go with an image of Cam the Ram, the mascot for Colorado State University, as well. But, since Colorado State doesn't even have a gymnastics team, we figured none of our blog-readers would be amused.

Here are the tweets (Note: Some schools have gymnasts competing individually even though their teams did not qualify):

1) Kentucky Gymnastics: NCAA gym warmups are underway! Sydney Waltz will compete in Stanford's rotation of bye, bars, beam, bye, floor, vault.

2) Florida Gators Gymnastics: Gator senior Rachel Spicer returns to Texas as NCAA Championships cap emotional senior year.

3) Samantha Peszeck: It's game time Bruins, lezzzgoooo

4) LSU Gymnastics: LSU competes for a spot in the Super Six in NCAA Semifinal II.

5) NC State Gymnastics: Brittni Watkins and Michaela Jayne ready to go!

6) WVU Gymnastics: Congratulations, Jaida Lawrence to co-Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Week!

7) CSU Cam the Ram: Happy Friday, Rams! Hope that rain jacket is green and gold! (The tweet actually featured a sheep wearing a raincoat!)

8) UCLA Gymnastics: All gymnasts master difficult skills. Danusia Francis likes to invent new ones.

9) Urban Dictionary: Hater_ A person that simply cannot be happy for another person's success.

Quotes from Famous Authors (2 of 5): Margaret Atwood

"Being edited is like falling face down into a threshing machine," Margaret Atwood.

SIDEBAR: We learned from The Urban Dictionary last week that when a person takes a selfie of their shoes, it is called a ''shoefie.' We imagine it is popular with suburban narcissist women in places like Bethesda, Maryland, who want the whole world to see how they fit into their new Jimmy Choo high heels!

http://us.jimmychoo.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-jchus-Site/en_US/Default-Start?geoip=geoip

DC Week (8 of 8): Afternoon Tweets__The Shutdown May End By Sunrise????

From what we gather, and we don't have PBS talk show hosts Gwen Ifill and Charlie Rose to verify this, the federal government shutdown may end by late tonight. We put a strong emphasis on the word MAY.

So, we decided to post tweets about this crucial issue du jour instead of posting an entry about the new play "Love in Afghanistan" being produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. or the fact that Ford's Theatre can now perform its play "The Laramie Project" at the Ford's Theatre instead of an alternate venue.

But, we are hoping to find some time for those entries by the weekend, in the mean time, here are the links:

http://www.arenastage.org/

http://www.fordstheatre.org/



We also learned today that the term 'tea bag' is a dirty slang word, we won't say what it means, but you can find out what it means in the Urban Dictionary:.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Here are the tweets which mention New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (pictured top) and right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh (pictured bottom):

1. David Wolman (with "Wired): I guess bipartisan agreement is now what House Republicans say they've kneeled before Zod." (this is an apparent reference to the antagonist in "Superman II.")

2. The Fix: RT Omar Villa France_ "I'm curious to know who gets the Worst Week in Washington crown this week. And it's only Wednesday."

3. The Onion: "Blood-soaked Mayor Michael Bloomberg Announces Homelessness No Longer a Problem in New York City." ("The Onion" is a faux news publication)

4. Slate: "Ted Cruz is now basically the Sarah Palin of the Senate."

5. Mark Harris ("Entertainment Weekly"): "I assume the next step for the Tea Party is to start referring to the shutdown on 'The Noble Cause' and staging cosplay repleacements." (Cosplay is a type of Halloween costume).

6. Cong. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): "Should have happened weeks ago. Sen. Reid announces deal to debt limit; reopen government."

7. Cong. Steve Pearce (R-Pa.): "Former White House official calls Obamacare roll-out 'excruciatingly embarrassing.'"

8. Politico: "Rush Limbaugh says GOP created 'one of the greatest political disasters I've seen in my life."

http://www.theonion.com

http://www.politico.com

Weekend Tweets Log_ Happy 52nd Birthday, Scott Baio

We are posting some tweets that we saw on Twitter between 1:30-2:30 p.m. east coast time today. First let's us explain the above images: 1) We thought we'd go with an image of two "Happy Days" characters Joanie and Chachi to go along with a tweet from the PBS' documentary series and because Scott Baio is turning 52 today; 2) We are going with one of the two Ernest Hemingway books I've read (and, I have a degree in English) in honor of the National Book Festival, happening this weekend in Washington, DC,; 3) an image of two British kids enjoying a game of soccer. We are being a bit ironic here as Liverpool faces Manchester United tomorrow, and we expect to be a rowdy crowd. In fact, according to the BBC, security measures have been upgraded for the game.

Here are the tweets:

1) @frontlinepbs ("Frontline"): "A HS dropout will end up costing taxpayers an average of $292K over a lifetime."

2) @TheWriterMag ("The Writer Magazine"): "#TheNatBookFest is a powerful and inspiring mix of genders, genres, generations and cultures. One nation under books!"

3) @libraryofcongress (Library of Congress): "More than 500 @JWLWDC volunteers @NatBookFest! Thanks to this good and loyal group and happy 100th anniversary!"

4) @liverpool (Liverpool FC): "Liverpool v. Man Utd. Predictions please......?"

5) @CoryBooker (Newark, NJ's mayor Cory Booker, who spoke at the Democratic Convention):  "We just landed in Tampa. The Garden State meets the Sunshine State, a great combination!"

6) @MayorMarkK (Chapel Hill, NC's mayor Mark Kleinschmidt who attended the Democratic Convention): "let's be responsible out there @ChapelHillPD #ChapelHillPD will step up enforcement of alcohol laws for UNC v. ECU football on Sat." (At last check, UNC was winning the game 7-3).

7) @Gamecocksonline (South Carolina Gamecocks Athletics): "Fans cheer as palyers at Williams Brice Stadium. Go #Gamecocks." (At last report, the 'cocks were tied 0-0 in their home football game against Missouri."

As it turns out, Scott Baio is associated with many terms in the Urban Dictionary. They are a bit too explicit for National Public Radio, so if interested, we suggest you go to this link: http://www.urbandictionary.com

Other Links:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.nationalbook.org

http://www.premiereleague.com

http://www.sitcomsonline.com

http://www.happydaysfans.com

http://www.pbs.org

New Words to Live By

We just finished a gut-wrenching article in "Rolling Stone" about the life of Adam Yauch (1964-2012) who was one of the Beastie Boys; the band made it big when they were young (Yauch is in the center, he is the one without a hat). He died from cancer in May.

But, our entry tonight is meant to hopefully be a happy one, as we look at two words in "The Urban Dictionary," a web site which also has a print version, in similar fashion to "What White People Like."

We are also striving to post four entries per blog tonight, since we will not be blogging tomorrow. Thus, ironically, like Chick-fil-a, (we strongly differ with their right-wing politics) we will be closed on Sunday. The satirical publication "The Onion"wrote that the fast food chain owned by evangelicals would start serving the "Queer-hating Cordon Bleu" sandwiches soon.

Here are two recent words which may go over well with the Beastie Boys fan base:

MEDAL FATIQUE: The inability to stay awake during the day because one has stayed up late watching coverage of the Olympics......(editorial note: Would apply to anyone who had to watch Turkish women's weight-lifter Nurdan Karagoz; the mere mention of her name seems to increase our blog hits!).

COFFEEDANCE: The sudden burst of confidence, focus, or creativity one experiences after drinking coffee or a drink with caffeine (editorial note: Yay! Starbucks!).


One can also find discussions of matters pertaining to the English language through the American public radio series "A Way with Words."

We fully intend for the use of words from "The Urban Dictionary," and we sincerely hope that neither they, nor "The Onion" or Chick-fil-a sue us for billions of dollars.

http://www.urbandictionary.com

http://www.waywordradio.org

http://www.theonion.com

http://www.beastieboys.com

http://www.boycottchickfila.com

http://www.starbucks.com

Things We Learned on Web Today: What is a Mittconception?

Since it's a Saturday night, and all us here at "The Daily Vampire" are suffering from some sort of brain parasite that one can only get from cats (this is a joke; though there was an article this year in "The Atlantic" about a Czech scientist who thinks he's discovered such a parasite), we thought we'd try to have some fun.

For starters, we learned the following term from The Urban Dictionary: Mittconception. This a fundamental belief of Mitt Romney, based on mistaken understanding of an issue (one of many).

And, we read some of the following tweets on Twitter. Many are related to yesterday's tragic gun shooting at a cinema in Aurora, Colo. Some are somber; some are serious.

Here they are:

@MaryLowyr1: "Possible solution to gun controversy: Assault weapons stay legal, but only women can buy any of them."

@WSOC_TV (tv station in Charlotte, NC): "Trooper: Alcohol, drugs a factor in 3-vehicle crash."

@MichealIdato: "People killed in one year by guns: Australia: 35, Germany: 194, Canada: 200, USA
9,484. #theatreshooting"

@DenverPost: "UPDATE:  "Friend of #theatreshooting victim Alex Teres says he was 'one of the best men I ever knew.'

@JapanTimes (in reference to North Korea's new dictator, the son of the late Kim Jong II): "Kim Juny Un invites dad's chef back."

http://www.urbandictioanry.com

http://www.twitter.com/clcgoddard

http://www.current.com

http://www.japantimes.co.jp

http://www.mittromney.com

http://www.facebook.com/NotoMittRomney

@Current: "We have to stand up and demand this from our elected officials, if not now, then when? Colin Goddard* on gun laws."

*-Goddard is a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting massacre which happened in April of 2007.

Quote of the Day/Week_ Andy Warhol

Today, we continue with quotes from figures who have been made into plush toy dolls from the American novelty company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, which usually retail for circa $17.95, as we quip the great artist Andy Warhol  (1927-1987). The man who was certainly famous for more than 15 minutes is mentioned in an excellent article by David Wolman in "Wired" (June issue) about an exemplary money counterfeiter in Germany, who was inspired by Warhol.

Currently, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pa., is showing film and video screenings by Warhol. Across the world in Singapore, there is an exhibit called "Andy Warhol, 15 Minutes" at the Singapore ArtScience Museum.

An interesting thing we learned about Singapore from an article about flight attendants is that Singapore Airlines actually has a corpse on board in case anyone doesn't complete the journey across the Pacific.

I guess if a traveler has that situation, their relatives will need to check with the Singapore embassy in Washington, DC. Incidentally, we first saw this Warhol doll in real life at a Smithsonian gift shop.

Here is the quote from Warhol, and we do wonder if the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., who is reportedly a bit over-the-top would make of this:

"I never think that people die. They just go to department store."

SIDEBAR: We learned today from the Urban Dictionary that word 'bittertweet' is about a tweet (which is a message on Twitter for those of you who lives in caves with no wi-fi access) that relays sorrow or disappointment. An example would be: "RIP, Rover. You were a great dog, and you will be missed. We just wish you hadn't gone after the soccer ball in front of a school bus." That may have exceeded 14 characters, but you get the idea. Right?

SIDEBAR TWO: We are making an effort to appear hip and trendy here at "The Daily Vampire," and we thought what better way to do that than to talk about the topics that are trending on the search engine bing.com; these include Channing Tatum, Lamar Odom, Italy vs. Germany (we still can't believe Germany lost!) and, of course, Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Ok, that is a joke, but we can tell you that the most famous man named Ahmet in the world (well, perhaps he is second to Ahmet Zappa, the son of the late Frank Zappa) is 53 years old and that he was born in the Turkish city of Konya.


http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.warhol.org

http://www.warholdfoundation.org

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.yoursingapore.com

http://www.singaporeair.com

http://www.wired.com

http://www.urbandictionary.com

Special Quote of the Week- Frederico Fellini

We wrap our series of quotes from famous Italians in honor of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification with a quip from the great Italian film director Frederico Fellini (1920-1993).

Among his famous films are "La Strada" (1954), "La Dolce Vita" (1960) and "8 1/2"
(1963). Fellini was a surrealist and this side of him was illustrated quite strakly with his later films, including "Satryicon" (1969) and "Amarcord" (1974).

Here is his quote:

"Censorship is advertising paid by the government."

SIDEBAR: We were wondering about the origins of the term 'gazooks,' also spelled 'gadzooks.' It turns out that it means several things. Two of them are: 1) an expression of alarm and 2) a term of surprise. I knew I had first heard the term on a cartoon or children's show as a child, but I forgot which one it was.

Well, it turns out, according to the Urban Dictionary, that the term was used very frequently on the now-campy "Batman" tv series with Adam West (as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin), which ran from 1966-68. Amazingly enough, there are 120 episodes of the show because it aired twice a week. Today, Adam West is 82 years old.

UPDATE: And, in the gazooks! department, this entry was actually meant for our other blog "Politics, Culture and Wastes of Time." Oh well....

Status Update_ The End of An Era

Since I am actually trying to get things done and make blog entries more economical, in the time-spending sense, and use Facebook and Twitter less often, I have decided to start a new Status Update series on this blog.

Of course, in the end, it will probably meet none of my objectives, but at least we can't canned by the WB before our scheduled 13-episode run.

So, we start today with this Status Update:

"I have retired my George Costanza wallet after a good solid six and a half years of usage."

The character of George, as played by Jason Alexander, was based on the show's co-creator Larry David, who is now a household name because of "Curb Your Enthuiasm," but the character's name was taken from Jerry Seinfeld's real-life pal Mike Costanza.

The Urban Dictionary says that a George Costanza wallet refers to a wallet that is overstuffed with junk. In the sitcom, the wallet forced George to sit in a stilted position.

Reruns of the 1990s sitcom "Seinfeld" air on WGHP in the Greensboro, NC, market from 11:00-11:59 p.m. each night. Tonight, they will show "The Finale" episode in the 11:00-11:29 slot.

I must profess that I find the newscasts of WGHP, the local Fox affiliate, about as objective as Glenn Beck, who is coming to Greensboro on April 8. But, my hero and his nemesis Bill Maher will also be performing at the Greensboro Coliseum on April
23.

Currently, Greensboro is getting a lot of media attention for hosting the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, which will feature Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan.....yes, I know they are all (to our knowledge retired from skating) but I am not exactly hip to what's going on in the skating world, so I thought I would joke about it.

I actually had a crush on Yamaguchi, who is a year younger than me, but now she is married to some hockey player, raising a family and competing on "Dancing with the Stars," so of course I'll have to develop a crush on a female figure skater who is some 20 years younger than her!