Sunday Comic Strip Dialogue Potluck (1/4): ......Keith Knight Wants Some Sushi...........

So greetings to those of you tuning us in from a Starbucks in Princeton, WVa; yes there really is a Starbucks in Princeton, West Virginia. For those of you in Dubai, Princeton University is not in Princeton, W.Va, but rather Princeton, NJ. Princeton University boasts alumni such as Donald Rumsfeld and Bill Bradley; yes, we doubt those two men would meet up at a Starbucks over an iced latte either.

The following lines are from comic strips that appeared in the Aug. 21st edition of "The Washington Post." The images above are of: 1) "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau; 2) Dustin Hoffman who seemingly has nothing to do with the comic strip "Dustin," but perhaps he reads it every now and then; and 3) characters from Bill Amend's "Foxtrot," which is now a Sundays Only strip.

Here we go, kids!!!:

1) "Do you think my dreams will come true?" Baldo

2) "What if you can't tie shoelaces, yet?" Doonesbury

3) "Sushi!," The Knight Life from Keith Knight

4) "This is a ruthless carnivore dress," Sherman's Lagoon.

5) "This campaign will be ugly," Prickly City.

6) "Hey, what's the big idea! We're not driving!," Judge Parker

7) "So what are you doing today?," Foxtrot

8) "Pretty cool, right?," Dustin

9) "My hands are so dry," Pickles by Brian Crane

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.princeton.edu

http://www.starbucks.com

http://www.visitnj.com

http://www.gotowv.com

We Have Been Blogging for 11 Years..........But, the Comic Strip Mary Worth Has Been Around Longer.......

With images of Bill Clinton, Cornel West and Newt Gingrich, three guys who will probably NOT be spending Friday night drinking dry martinis together at Nicky Blaine's in Indianapolis, or anywhere else in the 317 area code. But, boy if that were to happen, we would love overhear that conversation.

We also sense all three men will be busy when shock stand-up comedian Margaret Cho performs a three-night stint at The Helium Comedy Club in St. Louis in late October, although Missouri is a swing-state that is likely to vote for Donald Trump, whom Gingrich is speaking with three or four times a day. Assuredly, Trump's promise to build a wall to stop illegal immigration from Mexico now makes Gingrich's speech about colonizing the moon seem a little less ridiculous.

It is a presumption on our part but we sense that Gingrich would be more comfortable watching Dolly Parton perform in the swing state of Nevada when she comes to Paso Robles on Sept. 30th. In fact, we assume that Bill Clinton and West would feel more at ease with Parton singing "Jolene" and "9 to 5" instead squirming with the risky adult jokes put forth by Cho.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning will come into a swing state when his teams plays a road game versus with the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 3rd. Since Minnesota even voted for their native son Walter Mondale in the presidential election of 1984, Gingrich would probably be wiser to stay home that weekend and watch his Atlanta Falcons host the Carolina Panthers.

We don't know what the Vegas odds makers are predicting as to when Trump will say something dumb again, but we sense it will be within 36 hours of this posting. Who knows maybe even Utah will be in play by the time Election Day comes around in November, which means we may have to quit making fun of Mormons.

We posted our first entry on Sept. 21st, 2005, which was 11 years ago yesterday. Thanks for tuning in. Now, you are free to go back to looking at photos of Margot Robbie in a bikini!

http://www.nickyblaines.com

http://www.margaretcho.com

http://www.dollyparton.com

Potluck Quote of the Day (10 of 10): Kristen Stewart

Tonight's Quote of the Day comes from superstar actress Kristen Stewart who was seen in Woody Allen's "Cafe Society," which also features Parker Posey, one of our favorite actresses, this summer. Stewart is on the cover of the July/August issue of "Film Comment." Here is a quote from her:

"The strange part about being famous is you don't get to give first impressions anymore. Everyone already has an impression of you before you meet them."

http://www.kristenstewart.com

http://www.filmcomment.com

Potluck Quote of the Day (9 of 10): Jay McInerney

For today, we quip Jay McInerney who wrote our favorite "Bright Lights, Big City," whom was interviewed by NPR "Fresh Air," hosted by Terri Gross of WHYY in Philadelphia. Amazingly enough, during the interview, McInerney revealed that 'Bright Lights..." which was made into a Michael J. Fox film, back in the day, was NOT his own personal novel of his.

Here is a quote from McInerney: "The most interesting precious things that happens in my books are usually the things that can arise spontaneously, the the things that come by surprise."

http://www.jaymcinerney.com

Today's Potluck Quote of the Day (8 of 10): Bette Davis

Today, we will quote the late, great actress Bette Davis, who was recently a TCM Star of the Day.

Before we quip her, we want to thank WTJU, the UVA college radio station in Charlottesville, Va., for running two nifty PSAs on getting children flu vaccines and reminding folks that they should get a public library card.

We would also like to borrow a line from Sunday's "Reply All" comic strip by Donna Lewis, which illustrates the invisible gender wall that all couples, young and old, seem to get caught up in: "For the gender with all the freedom, I feel pretty much trapped right now."

Finally, we would also like to salute Dutch women's gymnast Sanne Wevers for her stunning gold medal performance on the balance beam at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Here is our quote from Davis, which the great "Village Voice" film critic J. Hoberman might take exception to: "I don't take the movies that seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache."

http://www.tcm.com

http://www.gocomics.com/replyall

http://www.wtju.net/

https://www.olympic.org/netherlands

Potluck Quote of the Day (7 of 10): Gilda Radner

Today, we salute Sir Paul McCartney for finally getting on the cover of "Rolling Stone," yes, please forgive our offbeat sense of humor. We also noticed today that Wheaties has gone retro as they have former American Olympic swimming legend Janet Evans on their boxes; yea, we don't think she will get replaced by Ryan Lochte either. BTW, Evans turns 45 on August 28th.

Since, we are not Conan O'Brien, we will go ahead and jump to our quote from the late Gilda Radner (1946-1989) who alas died from cancer at a young age:

"Fame changes a lot of things, but I can't change a light bulb."



http://www.janetevans.com

http://teamcoco.com/

http://www.rollingstone.com

Potluck Quote of Day/Night (6 of 10): Jerry Seinfeld

A Writing entity on Twitter asked us to write a five-word sentence in which an athlete confronts an unexpected challenge. We came up with: "Simone Biles converts to Judoism." Biles is as even barefoot children in Malawi now know is American gymnast who has won four gold medals and one bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

As we were putting this together, we noticed they were once again playing chainsaw heavy metal on WKNC, the student-run college radio station for North Carolina State in Raleigh. Among the tunes they were playing on the station was "Fight Em Till You Can't" by Anthrax.

We have to wonder if this song or perhaps some hip hop was in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's I-Pad as he helped Manchester United, his new team, with two goals to defeat Southampton 2-0; now that's what we call an impressive debut. We have actually lost track of European soccer lately. In fact, we even have to ask Google if Turkish-German soccer star Mesut Ozil was still playing for Arsenal, one of MU's main rivals on the grass.

Perhaps some of you came across this blog out of indecision as to what to watch on Youtube. We can recommend a clip from "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster" (1971). If that doesn't work, then check out a Quote of the Day from someone like Dr. Seuss, whom we are not quipping here. That honor goes to standup comic and former sitcom star Jerry Seinfeld, who will be performing in at least two swing state venues, including stops in Des Moines, Iowa, (Sept. 9th) and Toledo, Ohio (Oct. 7th).

Here is Seinfeld's quote:

"Men don't care what's on TV. They only care about what else is on TV."

Oh, we forgot to mention that Bette Davis is tomorrow's TCM Star of the Day: Her film "Noe Voyager" airs at 8:00 p.m., followed by many of her other performances. 

http://jerryseinfeld.com/

http://www.writersdigest.com/

https://wknc.org/

https://www.ncsu.edu/

http://www.g-fan.com/ (Godzilla fan page)

https://www.premierleague.com/

http://www.tcm.com

Potluck Quote of the Day (5 of 10): Muhammad Ali

Today's quote of the day comes from the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) who died earlier this year. We found this quote on a tribute by Keith Knight in his political cartoon series "The K-Chronicles." We are also happy to learn that Knight now resides in Chapel Hill,NC, which puts him in the same state as our good friend Chris Knight (no relation, in fact Keith is black, and Chris is white) who is based in Reidsville.

Ali's legacy continues through the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky.

Here is today's potluck quote of the day: "If you even dream of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize."

http://www.alicenter.org

http://www.kchronicles.com

http://www.muhammadali.com

We are featuring Ali today as a tribute to the 2016 Rio Olympics. On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogpsot.com we have a quote from Romanian gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci.

Potluck Quote of the Day (4 of 10): Jimmy Carter

Today's Quote of the Day is from former President Jimmy Carter, who is now 91 years old; last night, Carter's time in the White House was the basis for a PBS documentary on "The American Experience."

We are indeed quoting Carter because it's an election year. In 1976, the year Carter ran for president against Republican Gerald Ford, the Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck also ran for office. Coincidentally, Mr. Duck was from Cleveland, Ohio, where this year's Republican convention took place. We gather no one there was dressed like Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie in the new film "Suicide Squad", and the ever-gorgeous actress Anne Hathaway was not there either!

Here is today's quote from Carter:

"If you're totally illiterate and living on one dollar a day, the benefits of globalization will never come to you."

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/

http://marvel.com/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/

Potluck Quote of the Day (3 of 10): Friedrich Nietzche

For those of you in New York, Film Forum is screening the Joan Crawford film "Sudden Fear" with nightly showings at 7:00 or 9:20 p.m. Of course, the way life works, even if you live in the same neighborhood as Film Forum, someone will talk you into seeing "Bad Moms" instead. Well, Christina Applegate of "Married with Children" sitcom fame (she is now 44 years old) is a good antagonist in the bawdy comedy.

Here is today's quote from the late Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900):

"It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge."

http://www.filmforum.org

Potluck Quote (2 of 10): Slavoj Zizek

According to the Instagram site for "Mental Floss," the American embassies for nations of Slovenia and Slovakia get together once a month to exchange letters that are meant for the other. We imagine the folks at "Washington Diplomat" are fully aware of this.

And, perhaps by merely mentioning Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," who actually wrote a play called "Denial" some twenty years ago, we can get a few more domestic hits for this blog.

Today, we quote Slovenian left-leaning philosopher Slavoj Zizek who is probably not admire by either Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio:

"When I really love someone, I can only show it by making aggressive and bad-taste remarks."

Potluck Quote of the Day: Howard Zinn on Monopoly

Greetings to those of you in Germany, Spain and Australia........as well as to those of you who might just be checking us out on your wi fi from Ozo Coffee Pearl in Boulder, Colo., where perhaps you are reading a print edition of "Boulder Weekly" or from Publik Coffee in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah...........

Tonight, we start a series of quotes from noteworthy people, both alive and dead, who made contributions to society (yes, we will not quote Charles Manson, but Marilyn Manson is a possibility).

And, we start with the late very progressive scholar Howard Zinn (1922-2010). Once you read this quip, you will understand why we went with a Monopoly game board; Scrooge McDuck was out alternative choice.

Here is the quote from Zinn:

"Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes."




 https://www.publikcoffee.com/#/locations

http://www.ozocoffee.com

http://www.boulderweekly.com/

 

20-Word Fiction: A Real-Life John Hughes Movie

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

Today's second 20-word fiction story imagines what a real-life Ferris Bueller would do on his day off if he lived in Roanoke, Va., as opposed to Chicago. This year marks the 30th anniversary of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," a film from the late John Hughes which stars Matthew Broderick.

Originally this story had Ferris going to the Mill Mountain Zoo where he fed a pygmy goat, but with a mere 20 words that part had to be omitted, though we feature a photo of that kind of goat here.

We also support the Sleepy Goat farm in Pelham, NC, just over the state line from Danville, Va., their goat cheese is awesome! In the We Caught It department, we originally said the goat farm was in Yanceville, NC, another town in Caswell Country (not that it matters as we are not "Atlantic" magazine!):

"Ferris decided to skip class on Thursday, but he quickly realized Roanoke is not an exciting place during the week."

http://www.mmzoo.org/

http://www.sleepygoatfarm.com/

http://www.theatlantic.com/

20-Word Fiction: Reading at Home

Greetings to our blog readers in Slovenia, France and Cyprus.........

Today's 20-word story is our ninth in a series of ten; they are sort of written on the spot; you can presume it takes place in High Point, NC, if you life:

"Mary was reading 'Fight Club' in her den when the ceiling collapsed. She wished she had gone to Starbucks instead."

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/

http://www.starbucks.com/

20-Word Fiction: The Bird Watcher

When I was with a bird-watching group in Highland County , Va., the smallest county in our state, we came across bird-watchers from Raleigh, NC, and Washington, DC. But, after the day was over with I realized my idea of bird-watching involved Woody Woodpecker cartoons on Youtube.

Here is tonight's 20-Word Fiction entry:

"The bird-watcher got obsessed with a yellow-billed oxpecker. That was before the bird crapped on his bald head."

The link below is for those who like to go bird-watching in Central Park in New York City:
http://www.birdingbob.com/

20-Word Fiction (7/10): Help with Math

Today, we are going with an image of Michael Caine from "Educating Rita" (1983), which was based on a play that we were fortunate enough to see at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, a few years. Caine lost the Oscars that year to Robert Duvall who won for "Tender Mercies."

Here is today's 20-Word Story of the Day, which we wrote ourselves:

"Suzy wanted help with her algebra homework, so she hired a Yale professor. He didn't know one freaking thing. Pathetic!"

To those of you who are Yale University alumni, this is a work of fiction!

http://www.triadstage.com

20-Word Fiction: Listen to Your Teachers

Greetings from the Hartford Public Library here in Hartford, Conn., which is not actually where we are blogging from but we expect they have every novel from Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, which have been translated into English.

Speaking of Turkey, today's image is of the famed Hagia Sophi, a state museum in Istanbul, Turkey, where actress Ashley Judd visited yesterday (we learned this from one of her tweets) which started as a Byzantine church before being converted to a mosque by the Ottomans.

Here is today's 20-word fiction which we are writing while listening to Brahms........:

"My religion professor said to be a true intellectual, one must read the Holy Bible and the Koran. Maybe so."

http://www.hplct.org/

20-Word Fiction (5/10): Reruns

Having just seen "The Nice Guys," the new Ryan Gosling-Russell Crowe buddy film which pays homage to '70s tv shows like "The Rockford Files" which starred the late James Garner who died in 2014 at age 86, we are in a '70s mood tonight. So, it should come as no surprise that we mention "The Brady Bunch," an sitcom which starred Florence Henderson and aired from 1969-74:

"The Brady Bunch was one of my favorite shows growing up. It would nice to watch it again. Maybe..........................." 

20-Word Fiction: The Family Vacation Debate

Did they really have to remake "National Lampoon's Vacation?" Weren't Chevy Chase, Anthony Michael Hall and Christie Brinkley great the first time around back in 1983?

Well, however, you feel, reading this entry will take up significantly less time than watching the remake with Ed Helms.

"The kids all want to go to Disney World. But, the wife wants to go to the Mall of America instead."

Ok, so this is 21 words.......

20-Word Fiction: Sunday Night with Clarence Thomas

We dedicate this post to 'my congressman' Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) who is playing a came of kick the can to prevent President Barack Obama to finding a Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia who died while on a hunting trip to Texas.

If November's election were on Tuesday and Goodlatte were to run against Woody Woodpecker, the red-haired bird would get my vote.

Though he is to the left of us, as we support Hillary Clinton while he supports Bernie Sanders, many years ago left-wing documentary filmmaker proposed running ficus plants against embodied, entrenched members of Congress; we fully agree with him on that point!

Here is our short, short, short story:

"The Supreme Court in my mind has voted 4-3 to stay awake; of course, Justice Clarence Thomas abstains as always."

http://www.michaelmoore.com

20-Word Fiction: Fishing in Kentucky

Todd went fishing in Kentucky. He caught a big bass. On his way home, Todd accidentally peed in his pants.

20-word Fiction: The Comedian (1 of 10)

Greetings from Atlanta:

Saw a great stand-up comic last night. I forget his name. Had one too many vodka shots.


(This is a work of fiction; the comedian pictured is Adam Cayton-Holland. He has been featured on Conan O'Brien)......

Super Tuesday 4 Tweets: Bernie Wins Rhode Island

Tonight, we are featuring the Baltimore Orioles mascot as the state of Maryland joined Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania in having Democratic and Republican primaries today. Hillary Clinton won four of the five blue state primaries with her challenger Bernie Sanders (pict top) from Vermont winning in Rhode Island.

Donald Trump swept all five of the primaries, but given that each of the states in play are blue states, voter turn-out was significantly lower for the Republicans. But, that did not stop Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ, pict. bottom) from standing by his man Donald Trump during the Donald's 'victory speech' tonight.

Here are the tweets; yeah, we have a center-left bias here, but some of these tweets actually do not:

1) Nate Cohn: Clinton took the lead in Connecticut thanks to a massive 87-13 margin in the wealthy town of Grenwich.

2) Ken Rudin: Trump had a stunning night tonight. There is absolutely no reason for him to be reading a litany of slights he's endured.

3) Chris Cillizza: Cruz keeps getting a pass on finishing third in these northeastern states. He shouldn't. This is the guy who is supposed to beat Trump.

4) David Corn: Waiting for Chris Christie to raise his hand and ask if he can go to the bathroom.

5) Shirley Henry (NPR): Trump citing Sanders: 'He's been telling the truth' about Clinton. 'I think Bernie Sanders should run as an independent. I think he's do great.'

6) Donna Brazile: Oh God! Trump is using Bernie to attack Hillary and trying to drive a wedge.

7) John Fugelsang: For the last 7 minutes, Chris Christie's brain has been saying: 'Recalculating. Recalculating. Recalculating."

8) Robert Costa (Washington Post): NJ Gov Chris Christie with Trump, standing to the candidate's right, Pa Cong. Lou Burletta to Trump's left.

9) Jennifer Levitz (WSJ): Rhode Island voter Connie Swanson, 79, calls any effort to deny Trump the nomination 'sleazy, very sleazy.'  

Happy 400th Shakespeare Day...........

Today we honor the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth and/or death with six images of theatrical productions and filmed version of his fabled plays; somehow, we didn't find any room for "Romeo and Juliet."

The six images are of: 1) The Merchant of Venice; 2) Hamlet; 3) Othello; 4) MacBeth; 5) Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" (based on Shakespeare's "King Lear," the Japanese film starred Toshiro Mifune, pict) and 6) "Much Ado About Nothing."

http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/

http://www.folger.edu/

https://www.ncshakes.org/

Remembering Prince with Our 10 Favorite Songs By Him....

Like the rest of the world, we were stunned to hear about the death of the iconic pop star Prince (1958-2016) at the age of 57. At first, we actually thought Prince Charles, who is 76, had died and that the person telling me of Prince's death had left out the word 'Charles.'

In honor of Prince, we are posting a list of our ten favorite songs by him. He also penned "Manic Monday" for The Bangles and "Nothing Compares 2 U" for Sinead O'Connor:

1) Raspberry Beret (1985; pict. top)

2) Controversy (1981)

3) Purple Rain (1984; pict. center)

4) Kiss (1986; pict. bottom)

5) Let's Go Crazy (1984)

6) When Doves Cry (1984)

7) Delirious (1983)

8) I Would Die 4 U (1984)

9) Little Red Corvette (1983)

10) 1999 (1982)

Tax Day Tweets: Congrats to North Carolina State Senator Phil Berger Sr. for Helping the Economy of Neighboring States

It has been a while since we last blogged on March 11th, but the dubious actions by North Carolina Republicans, such as state senator Phil Berger, Sr. from Eden (pict. bottom) to pass HB-2 otherwise known as 'the bathroom bill' in Raleigh, has even made headlines in Israel. Today, the 90s rock band Pearl Jam joined Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Boston in cancelling concerts across the state.

But, comedians Louis C.K., who performed in Asheville, and Joel McHale (of "Community") in Durham, both went ahead with their performances and gave profits from the shows to North Carolina gay, lesbian and transgender rights groups.

We actually used to reside in Berger's district; it's good to now be residing in a legislative district that strongly leans Democratic.

Though we also differ with the far-left politics of Michael Moore (pict. top) who should share a burrito and margarita with Berger at the Green Burro in downtown Greensboro (imagine the photo-op), we feature a tweet from Moore, who is supporting Bernie Sanders (we prefer Hillary Clinton) for the Democratic nomination for president, in our three tweets of the day.

We also want to take a moment to congratulate University of Denver gymnast Nina McGee (pict. center) for winning the NCAA floor exercise title at the women's collegiate gymnastics championships held in Fort Worth, Tex., over the weekend.

Here are the tweets:

1) Michael Moore: Clinton and Sanders now virtually tied in new national poll (NBC); Sanders has also shaved 7 points off Clinton's lead in NY (CBS).

2) The Paris Review: 'Me gift is to take relatively simple things and contemplate them to the point of madness,' John Barth."

3) Donkey Coffee (coffee shop in Athens, Ohio): Back from our employee dinner_ we are open again, come on in!

 http://downtowngreensboro.net/

http://www.ncdp.org/

http://equalitync.org/

http://donkeycoffee.com/

Salute to NCAA College Sports (3 of 3)

Here are the six student athletes pictured in this entry: 1) Mysha Sataraka, softball, UCLA; 2) Grant Mullins, men's basketball, Columbia; 3) Chanen Roygoza, women's gymnastics, Penn State; 4) Matt Grzelcyk, men's hockey, Boston University; 5) Kiah Gillespie, women's basketball, Maryland; and 5) Mark Lowrie, baseball, Winthrop.....

Salute to NCAA college sports (2 of 3)....

The following student athletes are as follows: 1) Greg Pryor, men's basketball, Chattanooga; 2) Brittnay Howard, women's volleyball, Stanford; 3) Emmet Cordrey, men's lacrosse, Princeton; 4) McKenzie Wofford, women's gymnastics, Oklahoma; 5) Steve Racine, men's hockey, Michigan, and 6) Tina Roy, women's basketball, South Carolina.........