Silly Photo to Fill Space- Halloween Dogs

If there is one thing about Americans which might make folks in Qom, Iran, Basra, Irag, or Pyongyang, North Korea (Forgive the political humor: I had to use the Axis of Evil countries to make fun of George W. Bush), it might well be our obsession with dogs.

There are lots of dogs and even some cats in very amusing photos in the current edition of "The Washingtonian."

While this is not from that magazine, it nevertheless is amusing.

And, with college football season in full-swing, one has to wonder if Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Northwestern will lobby the NCAA to join the Ivy League (the joke here for those of you in Axis of Evil nations is that these schools seem to be more interested in academics than athletics hence they may have even more problems competing in high sweepstakes sports than ever before)! Personally, if I were the dog, I'd go with Vanderbilt.

The Last 10 CDs I've Listened To- Lots of New Wave

Normally, we use this blog to post entries pertaining to the last ten films we've seen, and we post the entry dedicated to the last ten cds we've listened to on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." Yes, I am aware that using the pronoun we to describe may make folks wonder if I have a multiple-personality disorder, but we can assure you that's not the case.

There are several New Wave selections here, inclduing The Go-Gos, The Psychedelic Furs and The Pretenders, amazingly enough two of those three bands were on tour this summer. And, Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders (the one band which wasn't on tour this summer), has been performing with other musicians as of late.

Ok, here is the list. I suppose I could arbitrarily mention Amanda Knox here to boost ratings, but we are above such things:

1. Sonic Youth "Dirty." 1992. Key Tracks: "100 %," "Youth Against Facism" and "Chapel Hill."

2. Arcade Fire. "The Suburbs." 2010. Key Tracks: "The Suburbs," "Ready to Start" and "City with No Children."

3. Interpol. "Antics." 2004. Key Tracks: "Evil" and "Slow Hands."

4. Rush "Signals." 1982. Key Tracks: "Subdivisions" and "New World Man."

5. The Go-Go's "Vacation" (pictured) 1982. Key Tracks: "Vacation" and "Cool Jerk."

6. REM "Murmur." 1983. Key Tracks: "Radio Free Europe" and "Perfect Circle," the band recently called it quits after 31 years.

7. Psychedelic Furs. "Mirror Moves" (pictured) 1984. Key Traks: "The Ghost in You," "Heaven" and "Heartbeat."

8. The Cranberries "Everyone Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" Key Tracks: "Dreams," "Sunday" and "Linger," the band will be releasing its first recording in many years on Feb. 14, 2012.

9. Red Elvises "Better Than Sex." (pictured) 1999. Key Tracks: "Wonderful Night" and "Closet Disco Dancer," the Russian-emigre band plays in Moscow, Russia, (yes That Moscow, not the one in Idaho) on Oct. 13th.

10. Pretenders. "Pretenders." 1980. Key Tracks: "Kid," "Private Life" and "Brass in Pocket."

Quote of the Day- Mikhail Gorbachev

Today, we start our month-long quotes from famous Russians with a quip from Mikhail Gorbachev, 80, who is considered a central figure in the ending of the Cold War.

Here is the quote, which seems to be a bit ironic:

"If people don't like Marxism, they should blame the British Museum."

Quote of the Week- Nazim Hikmet

We are very pressed for time today, but I thought us off with a quip from the late, great Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet (1901-1963) who lived in exile in Russia for his communist views during the later part of his life.

Ironically, this poet, who is buried in Moscow, is now considered the national poet of Turkey.

Here is his quote:

"However and whereever we are, we must live as if we never die."

Bonus Road Trip- Nebraska to Wisconsin (3 of 10)

Today, we look at the distances between two college towns which both happen to be state capitals named after two legendary American presidents: Lincoln, Nebr., to Madison, Wisc.

On Saturday, the Wisconsin Badgers won a home victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team that was making its Big Ten debut (there are actually now 12 teams in the Big 10) by a surprisingly devstating 48-17 score, which help move the Badgers into the top ten.

But, both schools also strong women's volleyball programs, and in that sport Nebraska will travel to Wisconsin for an important game on Oct. 14th.

On Saturday, the Nebraska women's volleyball team won a crucial road game at Michigan State on the part of 22 kills from Cornhusker stand-out Morgan Broekhius.

The Cronhuskers have several players from Nebraska on their squad, including Laren Cook, a junior from Lincoln and Brigette Root, a senior from Grand Island.

As for the Badgers volleyball team, they play four-time champion Penn State for a road game on Friday.

Nebraska also has a competitive women's gymnastics team, which has come close to winning a national championship at several intervals in recent years. That team's first home meet will be against Denver University on Jan. 13, 2012. The team has at least one gymnast from Nebraska, including Deanna Barrmore from Omaha.

So, for this segment, we are comparing the distances between two panckae houses, including the Original Pancake House at 5518 University Avenue in Madison (the state-wide chain has four other locations in Wisconsin) and Greenfields Pancake House on South 87th Street in Lincoln.

The distances between these two places is:

A) 7 hours, 30 minutes

B) 7 hours, 40 minutes

C) 7 hours, 50 minutes

D) 8 hours even

Give us your answers, and you may qualify to win a vintage 1970s Oak Ridge Boys record on vinyl (that is a joke, folks!).

Things We Learned on Google Today- Kaunas is the Second Largest City in Lithuania

NOTE: We sort of messed up as this entry was intended for our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" and an entry on the Swedish soccer team IFK Goetborg was meant for here. We jumped up and down a chimp at the San Diego Zoo upon discovering this, but we are all settled down now. This series is a look at the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union. So far, with this entry, we have covered all but four of these countries, the last one was Latvia.

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania behind Vilnius, the capital. The city is also the leading center of Lithuania's economic, academic and cultural life according to Wikipedia, which is, of course, always right.

Kaunas has two rivers: the Nemunas and the Neris.

In 1701, Kaunas was occupied by the Swedish Army (Editorial note: I didn't know Scandanavians were imperialists) and the Black Death plague cane to town in 1657 and stayed around until 1708. We presume this was the darkest period in the city's history.

Greensboro vs. Roanoke- Best Road Trips (6 of 6)

Today, we conclude our look at my hometown of Roanoke, Va., and my adopted city of Greensboro, NC, by comparing two unique road trip opportunities within a short driving distance from each respective zip code.

The first one of these is the North Carolina Zoo, located in Asheboro, NC, which is about 35 minutes away from Greensboro and is located in the same county as the Richard Petty Museum in Randleman, NC.

This month, the zoo is offering Batology 101 on Sat., Oct. 22 at noon. Among the things which will be discussed is how bats apparently dine on up to 1,000 mosquitoes. We have no idea if that is the appetizer or the main course.

On Oct. 29th and 30th, the same zoo will have a special "Boo at the Zoo" program featuring a 'guess the pumpkin size' contest.

As for what is arguably the best trip from Roanoke, unless it is a day when Virginia Tech is playing Clemson and traffic is backed up to West Virginia (as is the case today), there is the Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Va., which is about 40 minutes from most parts of Roanoke due to the hilly roads.

The Floyd Country Store is known for its Friday night jamborees from 6:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. On Oct. 15th, the store will hold a cd release party for gospel and country singer Janet Turner who is from the region. And, on Oct. 29th, the venue hosts an old time country dance with Mac Trayhan and Friends.

So, which road trip would I choose? Hmmm....this will be put me in the pickle jar again, but since I am a bit allergic to elephant dung (forgive the political humor), I will go with the Floyd Country Store though the North Zoo is an exceptional place to visit, especially if you have kids who aren't allergic to elephant dung.