Turkish Futbol Update- Fenerbahce Still in Charge

Since one of my favorite Turkish soccer teams Bursaspor from Bursa, Turkey, is having a banner year as the team is currently in third place, we thought we'd post another Turkish Futbol update.

My friend Ugur Celikkol who lives in Bursa and is in charge of a fan team for the Gators (their nickname is Timsah, which means alligator in Turkish) told me recently that he is very pleased with the team.

Here are some scores from last weekend's play. Traditional Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce remains in first place, while their rival my beloved GaltaSaray is in a close second place:


Bursaspor 3 Eskisehirspor 1
Kayserispor 1 Gazinantepspor 0
Fenerbahce 5 Sivasspor 1
GalataSaray 2 Denizlispor 1
Trabszongspor 2 Diyarbakir 1
Besikttash (Istanbul) 1 Antalyaspor 0
Istanbul BB 4 Kasimpasha 2
Manisa 0 Ankara Gucu 0 (tie)

Special Screenings_ "The Princess Bride"

My friend Joe Scott is presenting "The Princess Bride," a favorite film of my sister Lale's, at the Carousel Cinemas in Greensboro, NC, on Thurs., Feb. 11*. The film is part of the cinema's Mixed Tape Series.

"The Princess Bride" was made in 1987, and it is directed by Rob Reiner ("Stand by Me," "When Harry Met Sally"). The screenplay was from legendary screenwriter William Goldman ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"). "The Princess Bride" is the rare film that was a hit when it was released, and has maintained a loyal following as many cult films like "The Big Lebowski" and "Harold and Maude" were not hits at the time of their initial release.

I found some interesting tidbits about the film on IMDB:

_Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits agreed to perform on the soundtrack on the condition that the hat he wore in Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984) be used in 'Bride.' The hat thus appears in the grandson's bedroom.

-The two rival kingdoms in the movie Florin and Guilde were based on names for former Dutch currencies, the Floria and the Gulden.

-Actors Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin performed their own sword work.

-Elwes was cast because he reminded Reiner of Douglas Fairbanks and Erroll Flynn.

_Reiner left the set when Billy Crystal's scenes were filmed because the comic actor made the director laugh too hard.

The film also features a rare screen performance from the late pro wrestler Andre the Giant, who played Fezzik.

*-We initially posted that the movie was going to be screened on Feb. 4, which was this past Thursday night. We only have one word for that: WhoooopS!

Chuck Palahniuk ('Fight Club" author) on JD Salinger

During the last winter storm last weekend, I was able to reread Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Choke," which was made into a film last year, but he is best known for penning "Fight Club." (His other novel "Diary" is also a favorite of mine).

The film version of "Fight Club" will be playing this weekend at the Criterion Cinemas in New Haven, Conn., and at the Collidge Center Theatre in Brookline, Mass., presuming they don't get snow (as we are supposed to get in Virginia and North Carolina yet again!).

Palahniuk had this interesting comment on his web site chuckpalahniuk.net about the passing of author J.D. Salinger ("Catcher in the Rye") last week:

"J.D. Salinger is responsible for the creation of one of America's most beloved rebels and antiheroes, Holden Caufield. I read 'The Catcher in the Rye' many times throughout my life.

always found it a comfortable book to return to, whenever I'd be suffering from a reading drought. It was also one of the first books that I can recall truly speaking to me as a youth."

Silly Picture to Fill Space-Groundhog Day

Bill Murray has said that "Groundhog Day" is one of his favorite movies.

I guess irregardless of what the groundhog in Pennsylvania indicated North Carolina and Virginia are about to get slammed with another major winter storm on Friday, according to both Eric Chilton (weather person for WFMY 2, CBS affiliate in Greensboro, NC) and Robin Reed (weather person for WDBJ 7, CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Va.).

I need to actually spend time doing things on my to-do list today, such as paying the electric bill, calling "The New Republic" about a 'missing issue' and doing the laundry (well, I never do the laundry!) so this will be a shorter entry than normal.

In the meantime, enjoy your Groundhog Day, which also happens to be the birthday of my friend Uzay Tumer, a Shakespearean actor who made it big as a celebrity waiter on the NBC reality tv show "The Restaurant."

Quote of the Week- Bill Cosby

Wow! I have another unbelievable nightmare trying to get this image uploaded!

At any rate, we are posting a comment from Bill Cosby because he was the commencement speaker at North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro, NC, in 2008.

Today marked the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-in at the old Woolworth's Store in downtown Greensboro and just in time for the occasion the International Civil Rights Museum was opened on that site. The students who participated in the sit-in were from NC A & T. Jesse Jackson was among the dignataries present for today's opening.

For more detailed coverage, go to yesweekly.com

Here is the quote from Cosby:

"Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you say their name it will carry."

Top 10 Books to Read When You're Snowed In

Whew! I was trying to add a third image to this blog, but I've been having enough problems with this entry and it is almost two a.m. here in Burlington, Vermont*, but since a major storm affected the towns of Tulsa, Okl., Fayetville, Ark., Johnson City, Tenn., Rock Hill, SC, Princeton, WVa., Mount Airy, NC, Charlottesville, Va., Bethesda, Md. and Washington, DC (forgive us if we left anyone out), over the weekend, we thought we'd go with a Top Ten Books to read when you are snowed in.

*-Not where I actually reside

All of this is enough to make one wish they were in Key West, Fla., where not only do winter storms never occur but (I presume) Republicans are never elected to city council. This also happens to be the zip code where one can find The Ernest Hemingway House.

Among the books that have a special place in my heart is Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war classic "Slaughterhouse Five." I saw the book in the library for the Shenandoah County Jail in Woodstock, Va., when I was profiling the jail for the local paper. To this day, I wonder if any inmates have ever bothered to actually read it. They would presumably have the time!

And, a George Mason University professor told "The Washington Post" this week that he sent a letter marked J.D. Salinger Cornish, NH (plus the town's zip code) and not only did the reclusive author get the letter- he responded to it!

The images for this entry are fom Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and the Ken Kesey statue in Eugene, Ore.

We chose the Dickens novel, in part, because it is a favorite of my good friend, children's author Sam Riddleberger, who resides in Belfast, Maine (not where he really lives....is this joke getting old?!)

Here is this godforsaken list!

Hope you enjoy it:

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger**

3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russian lit bias)

4. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

5. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

6. The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (German lit bias)

7. Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish lit bias)

8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yes, a woman recommended this!)

9. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.


**-Of course, I am mentioning this title since the author just died!

Good, now we can move on to other things...............

Oh No! It's #%&*# Snowing Again!

A tweet from "The Roanoke Times" New River Valley Bureau said it best: "It's snowing again here in Pulaksi County."

Not only was it snowing in Dublin, Va., today, but it was also snowing in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland as well as parts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The storm is also striking the Washington, DC, metro area.

Here in the Greensboro, NC, area the snow dropped some eight inches in most areas, prompting cancellations of events and services across the Triad metro area. The storm had a similar impact in Charlotte and Raleigh.

In my hometown of Roanoke, Va.- two hours north of Greensboro, flights were scrapped and shopping malls were closed. My alma mater Radford University in Radford, Va., canceled its home game against UNC-Asheville. The school is supposed to host its annual homecoming weekend starting on Friday.

Other games in the region were scrapped as well including North Carolina A & T's home game with Coppin State in Greensboro. The mostly African-American college is supposed to get national recognition on Monday when the new International Civil Rights opens in downtown Greensboro.

The museum is opening in conjunction with the famous sit in at the old Woolworth's building where the museum will be housed which involved NC A & T students. The sit-in occured on Feb. 1, 1950. The inclement weather forced a gala that was scheduled for Sunday night for the museum to be rescheduled.

The owners of the Backstreet Buzz Coffeehouse in Reidsville, NC, opened for breakfast this morning, but they decided to close in the afternoon as the snow continued to mount.

In Richmond, Va., at least two college basketball games are going on as scheduled though Virginia Commonwealth University tweeted that video highlights of its home game with Georgia State would be unavailable since camera trucks could not come in due to the bad weather.

In Washington, DC, the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team tweeted that it took the team bus an hour and a half to get to their hotel from Dulles International Airport. The route normally takes a little over a half hour. The Lightning will play the Washington Capitals tonight.

DC Metrobus also announced that the bus service would only provide transportation for snow emergency routes this evening.

In Durham, NC, motorist Nancy Harmon told News 14 Carolina that everyone was driving very carefully as the roads were very slippery and treacherous. Gary Stephenson told the same news outlet that snow was coming down heavily in Raleigh.

North Carolina's governor Beverly Purdue (D) announced a state of emergency for the Tarheel State.

The Cat's Cradle night club in Carrboro, NC, near Chapel Hill, announced that tonight's scheduled concert with the band Urban Sophisticates would not go on as planned. The Chelsea Theatre art-house cinema in Chapel Hill also said it would close for the day.

But, the Byrd Theatre in Richmond is going through with its second run screenings of two George Clooney movies, "The Fantastic Mister Fox" and "The Men Who Stare at Goats."

The Greensboro area will see many attractions closed for the weekend including the Greensboro Children's Museum and the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC.

A state championship for North Carolina cheerleaders was postponed in Winston-Salem, and a Mosaic concert in Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum that was scheduled for Sunday night is also not going to be performed this weekend.

News-14 Carolina also reported a fatal car accident in Charlotte.

Many church services in the Greensboro area have also been scrapped, including ones for the Stokesdale Church of God in Stokesdale, NC, the Solid Rock Baptist Church in High Point, NC and The Beacon Baptist Church in Burlington, NC.

The weather is also affecting progressive churches as the Unitarian Universalist Church in Greensboro and the Unity Church in Winston-Salem canceled Sunday services. One also expects that the Islamic community will be affected as well as the Divan Triad Cultural Center in Greensboro will probably have to cancel scheduled Sunday afternoon activities.

But, some events went on as scheduled anyway in North Carolina as the North Carolina State men's basketball team hosted North Carolina Central University from nearby Durham. The Wolfpack won the game 77-42. One would expect that few people would have probably come to the predicted mismatch under normal weather conditions, but assuredly those who made it to the game had more fun than they would have if they had been shoveling out their driveways.