Chaos in DC: Tweets from the Republican Congress Mess.....

Greetings to our blog readers in Azerbaijan, Ireland, and Switzerland........

Yes, it has been a full two weeks since we last entered a blog entry. In that time, Katie Holmes has reconciled with ex-husband Tom Cruise, and Tim Tebow has converted to Islam, well, of course, neither of those things have happened though the image with Tebow in a turban is quite striking.

As many of you know, Washington, D.C., our nation's capital has been turned upside down this week as House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, abruptly resigned from Congress. Then, today, Cong. Kevin McCarthy, his hand-picked successor 'bailed out' of being elected speaker. Thus, Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc., pict. bottom), the 2012 veep candidate is being recruited though he has told the media he is not interested.

This makes one speculate that just anyone, including actor Kevin Spacey (pict. top) who plays a fictional South Carolina congressman could be in the running! Spacey plays the house member of the Netflix series "House of Cards."

Netflix also made news today as they announced they were increasing their subscription rates by one dollar, which Twitter also chimed in on.

Here are 11 tweets from a group as politically diverse as Rich Lowry, an editor at the conservative "National Review" and David Corn, a progressive reporter with "Mother Jones."

1) The Nation (a liberal magazine): "The GOP has actually been teetering on a chaotic cliff for a long time_as has American conservatism."

2) The Weekly Standard (a conservative magazine): "Just over a week ago, Kevin McCarthy first considered dropping out of the race."

3) Rich Lowry: "Source says it's btwn Ryan and his wife right now. If that's a go, next hurdle will be whether he thinks he can 218 votes or not."

4) David Corn: "You know what we need today? Sarah Palin news."

5) Ryan Grim (Huffington Post): Fun fact: Kevin Spacey shadowed Kevin McCarthy for his House of Cards role.

6) Brian Stelter (CNN): " 'To continue adding more TV shows and movies incl many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price...' "

7) Dave Weigel (Washington Post): "I'm shocked, shocked that Ryan did not elucidate his plans while being chased by cameras."

8) Chad Pergram (Fox News): Paul Ryan is fundamentally about two things: Family and numbers. And, balancing that equation doesn't always work in politics.

9) Washington Post: Ben Carson suggests that gun rights could have kept Hitler from killing as many Jews.

10) Mother Jones: The chemical in cookware and cupcake wrappers might be causing cancer.

11) Washington Diplomat: Imprisoned Saudi blogger's* wife protest at Saudi embassy in Vienna. (That blogger is Raif Badawi).

Well, that's it for tonight, now it's time to go to The Diner on 18th Street NW in Washington, DC**
http://www.dinerdc.com/ where who knows, we might run into Cong. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and pester her about what's going on inside Capitol Hill?! (we actually live pretty far from DC)

Top 10 Olympic Lists (3 of 10): Athletes from Former Soviet Republics

Here are ten athletes competing for former Soviet Republics; one of the more interesting ones is Patrick Brachner, who skis for Azerbaijan, but he is an Austrian. Brachner was originally slated to be Azerbaijan's flag-bearer.
Our image is of Yulia Galysheva, a free-style skier from Kazakhstan.

Here is our list:

1. Roman Krech. 24. Kazakhstan. Speed-skating.

2. Yulia Galysheva. 21. Kazakhstan. Free-style Skiing.

3) Yosef Penyak. 20. Ukraine. Snowboarding.

4) Patrick Brachner. 22. Azerbaijan. Alpine Skiing.

5) Hanna Huskova. 21. Belarus. Free-style Skiing.

6) Lelde Gasuna. 23. Latvia. Women's Alpine Skiing.

7) Andris Sics. 28. Latvia. Men's Luge.

8) Katya Galstyan. 21. Armenia. Cross-country Skiing.

9) Kadri Lehta. 28. Estonia. Biathlon.

10) Dmitry Treleveski. 30. Kyrgyzstan. Alpine Skiing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/ (Shaun White is going for gold number three today)

http://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/2014 (Curling is among the sports that is of most interest in Great Britain).

Little Thinkers Quotes (15 of 16): Jane Austen

Greetings to our blog readers in Azerbaijan, The Bahamas and Guatemala.

Today, we quote Jane Austen:

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."

No Blog Entry Today as I am Sick as a Dog

American English idioms may be lost on our blog readers in Uzbekistan, so we will refer to the NPR radio series "Way with Words" http://www.waywithwords.org and the ever-hip Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com or perhaps even the Scrabble dictionary http://www.scrabble.com

We got this image when we googled in the term: "Dogs in Turkey," but we are not sure if this fella is from Malatya, Erzurum or Kars (forgive the Turkish humor). We imagine dogs in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan look fairly similar to this one?!

We shall try to post a more meaningful blog post when this nasty cold has left the building.....

Sports Desk: Soccer Scores from Obscure Countries Around the World

Today, we arbitrarily decided to post soccer scores for four leagues which don't get much mention: Azerbaijan, Serbia, Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia. For results from Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia, go to our sister blog http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

But, for the rest of you, stick here as we give you weekend scores from Azerbaijan and Serbia (assuredly few bloggers outside of Baku and Belgrade are doing this!). The images above are of Will John, who is the first American ever to play in Azerbaijan. He plays for Azal PFC. We were not aware of him when we did our American soccer players abroad entry.

 The bottom image is of Ghana international Obeng Regan who got a red card for his Serbian club Napredak Krussevac.

Here are the results:

Azerbaijan

FK Baku 1 Sungayit FC 0

Khazar Lenkoran 0 Inter Baku 1

AZAL PFC 1 Khazar Lenkoran 3

Gabala 3 Ravan 0 (Gabala is also in first place in the league; Neftci Baku is in third place)

Serbia

Sloboda 2 Radnicki 1

Vojvodina 2 Partizan 1 (in spite of the loss, Partizan is still the Serbian league leader)

Napredak 2 Cukaricki 1

OFK Belgrade 1 Rad Belgrade 0

http://www.azembassy.us/

http://www.azal.az/

http://www.serbia.travel/

Soccer Week (4 of 8): Soccer Players with Very Very Long Lastnames

Who is this player from Georgia, a former Soviet republic, who is the captain of the Turkish team Kayserispor, which plays its home games in the central Turkish city of Kayseri? Well, you will have to find out as we don't want to spell or misspell his name more than once.

Here is the list:

1. Tarik Elyonoussi (Norwegian player or Moroccan heritage who plays for 1899 Hoffenheim in Germany)

2. Manuel Schmiedebach (German player who plays for Hannover '96 in Germany)

3. Angelis Charalambous (Cypriot player who plays for Appolon Limassol in Cyprus)

4. Zurab Khizanishvili (Georgian player who plays for Kayserispor in Turkey; he is the player pictured above...........his name is not actually the longest one we have)

5. Kamo Houhannisyan (Armenian player with Pyunik Yerevan in Armenia)

6. Javid Imamverdiyev (Azeri player with Neftci Baky in Azerbaijan)

7. Sergei Khizhinichenko (Kazak player with Shakhtar Karagandy in Kazakhstan)

8. Dinya Bilyaletdinov (Russian player with Spartak Moscow in Russia)

9. Ruslan Mukametshin (Russian player with Rubin Kazan in Russia)

10. Dzhamaldin Khozhaniyazov (Russian player with Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia)

11. Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russian player with Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia)

http://www.turkish-futbol.com

Soccer Week (3 of 8) International Players in Turkish Super Lig

There are no American players in the Turkish Premiere League as Maurice Edu of Bursaspor headed to play in the English Premiere League, but there is one Canadian. He is Atiba Hutchinson (pictured) who left PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands to play for Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash.

Here are 11 international players in Turkey:

1. Pablo Batalla (Argentina) plays for Bursspor (his name is not spelled right on the tags)
 
2. Ufuk Budak (Azerbaijan) plays for Eskisehirspor

3. Mervan Celik (Sweden) plays for Ankara Genclerbirligi

4. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) plays for GalataSaray

5. Anton Fernidand (England) plays for Antalyaspor

6. Atiba Hutchinson (Canada) plays for Besiktash

7. Marc Janko (Austria) plays for Trabzonspor

8. Dirk Kuyt (Netherlands) plays for Fenerbahce

9. Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands) plays for GalataSaray

10. Rodrigo Tello (Chile) plays for Eskisehirspor)

11. Abdou Traone (Burkina Faso) plays for Gaziantepspor 


http://www.turkish-football.com/

http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

Quote of the Day- Andy Warhol

Greetings to our blog-readers in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Tunisia.

Today, we feature a quote from the late American artist Andy Warhol, who would have turned 85 today:

"I'm afraid that if you look at a thing long enough, it loses all of its meaning."

http://www.warhol.org

Catholicism by the Numbers

With images above of a Catholic church in Russia and a sheep in Uzbekistan, here is a look at the numbers of Catholicism in countries where they are minorities.

Though I am not a Catholic myself, I thought with the new coronation of Pope Francis I of Argentina and Easter Sunday occurring tomorrow that this would be a subject of interest:

Azerbaijan 400

India 19.9 million

Israel 100,000

Japan 509,000

Kazakhstan 250,000

Russia 750,000

Uzbekistan 5,000

http://www.catholic.org

Greetings from Mister Lizard

We conclude Reptile Week with a gecko lizard, and no we are not trying to see you car insurance.

Let's take a moment to wish a pleasant Sunday morning to folks in Athens, Greece, where it is now 8:00 a.m. and to folks in Baku, Azerbaijan, where it is now 10:00 a.m.

According to buzzle.com, the gecko is small lizard that are quite radiant; the reptile usually resides in warm climates and the lizards are diligent when it comes to climbing around. They also like to dine on insects and they are known to make a chirping sound.

SIDEBAR: Or should we say side out, as we discuss tonight's vital women's college volleyball game between the host San Diego University Toreros, ranked #18, and the visiting Brigham Young University Cougars from Provo, Utah, , ranked #13.

The Toreros prevailed in the Big West Conference match 3-2 (25-23, 28-26, 13-25, 25-23, 15-13).

For the Cougars, Jennifer Hamson had 23 kills and 15 digs; for the winning Toreros, Katie Hoekman had 20 kills and 2 digs while her teammate Sandra Lozic, a sophomore from Serbia, had 16 kills and 14 digs.

http://www.lizards.com

http://www.byucougars.com

http://www.usdtoreros.com 

Parade of Nations (Two of Four)- Albania to Italy

We continue our Parade of Nations of flag-bearers for their respective countries, with the likes of an Albanian women's weight-lifter to a Cuban wrestler:

Albania: Romela Begaj (women's weightlifting)

Azerbaijan: Elnur Mammadi (men's judo)

Chile: Denisse van Lamoea (women's archery)

Cuba: Mijain Lopez (pictured below, wrestling)

Cyprus: Marcos Baghdatis (pictured above, tennis)

Hungary: Peter Biros (water polo)

Iran: Ali Mazaheri (boxing)

Italy: Valentina Vezzali (pictured center, fencing)

http://www.olympic.org

http://www.valentinavezzali.com

Olympics Cities Destination Quiz (4 of 6) Melbourne-Munich

Today, we continue our Olympics Cities Destination quiz series in honor of the 2012 London Olympics, which start on July 29th, with a look at how far Melbourne, Australia, and Munich, Germany, are.

Apologies to our international audience as we are doing this in miles.

Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympics, which were the first ones held in Australia. They are one of  only two  summer games where athletic events were held outside the host country as equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden; the other games where an event took place away from the home was 1920 Antwerp Olympics in Belgium, in which yachting events were held in neighboring Holland.

Some of the highlights of the Melbourne games were Australian men's swimmer Murray Rose (1939-2012) who died in April winning three gold medals; his teammate Dawn Fraser (pictured above) won two gold medals for the host country.

Munich hosted the 1972 Olympics which were greatly overshadowed by tragedy as Palestinian terrorist took 11 Israeli coaches and athletes hostage and later killed them in what became known as the Munich Massacre.

But, there were also tremendous athletic accomplishments in then-West Germany as American men's swimmer Mark Spitz, now 62, won seven gold medals which was recently surpassed by Michael Phelps.

Similarly, women's Soviet/Belarusian gymnast Olga Korbut, now 57, won three gold medals while also performing a ground-breaking backward somersault on the balance beam.

 Korbut was on a 1996 postage champ issued by the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan; she now lives in Arizona.

Since Monday was National Children's Day in Turkey, the country of my late father Mehmet Gokbudak, we thought we'd feature this image of a Turkish girl that we believe was taken at a large holiday festival in the resort town of Kusadasi.

During the last year when I lived in Turkey (we resided in Zonguldak province in the western Black Sea from 1977-79) Turkish Radio Television, also known as the TRT, started an international children's festival with delegations from other countries around the world.

This year, the participating countries included Egypt, Finland and South Korea.

Here in the United States, individual Turkish-American organizations, such as ATA-NC in Cary (Raleigh), NC, hold local events in honor of Children's Day.http://www.ata-nc.org

While researching this piece, we discovered that the most-celebrated Children's Day is actually on June 1st. It is celebrated in many former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Azerbaijan and (of course) Russia as well as former communist country, including Turkey's neighbor Bulgaria.

Things We Learned on Google Today_ All Things Azerbaijan

Today, we conclude our look at the 15 former Soviet Republics which are now independent nations (the early entries, including Uzbekistan, ran on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire") and we end it all with Azerbaijan, the only country of the 15 that we've actually been to.

From Google, we learned that Elin Suleymanov, an alumnus of The University of Toledo in Ohio, is the new Azeri ambassador to the United States, as of late October. Suleymanov speaks Russian, English, Turkish and Czech.

His counterpart in Baku, the Azeri capital, is Matthew J. Bryza, who was appointed as the American ambassador to Azerbaijan in January.

We also learned that Ganja, with a population of 313,000 in western Azerbaijan is the country's second largest city after Baku. It is sister cities with Newark, NJ, and Izmir, Turkey. When Ganja was in the Soviet Union, the city was called Kirovabad.

Ganja also has a significant Armenian population since it is relatively close to the border with Armenia. Azerbaijan and Armenia have had many ethnic clashes since both countries became independent 20 years ago.

Prior to our googling venture today, we learned many other things about Azerbaijan from an excellent article about the country in the Sept./Oct. issue of "Mental Floss, including the legend that the quaint city of Lerik, near the Iranian border has a high number of people who live to be 100 or more.

Apparently, and according to the article, a "New York Times" reporter came across one such resident in 1998 who claimed he was 121 years old. The man reportedly said that fresh air and easy living were why he had lived so long.

Things We Learned on Google Today- Kutaisi is Georgia's Second City

In case you are wondering, the image above is of Kazbegi Beer (well we ran into a tech glitch so the image is of Georgian folk dancing instead, but all beer bottles look similar, don't they?!), which is the most popular brew in Georgia, as in Tblisi not Atlanta.

The former Soviet republic of Georgia is now an independent nation though it has been dealing with ethnic unrest as Abhazia and South Ossetia, two states within Georgia, want independent nationhood status for themselves, much as Chechnya wants a divorce from Russia. If all of this is confusing, then just ask Condi Rice to clarify it for you (not that we are Republicans here).

Kutaisi has a population of 186,000, and it has Georgia's second highest population behind the capital Tblisi. Kutaisi, which is some 150 miles west of Tblisi, is relatively close to the geographic center of Georgia.

The city also sits along both banks of the Rioni River (yes, we got all this info from Wikipedia), and it is bounded by the northern Imereti foothills. Much like neighboring Azerbaijan, Georgia has hot summers and cold winters.

FC Torpedo Kutaisi is the local soccer team, and the landmark attraction in Kutaisi is the Bagrati Cathedral, which is now in ruins.

As for the Georgia where former president Jimmy Carter grew up and still resides, Augusta is the state's second largest city. We wrongly assumed it was Savannah, which is actually the Peach State's fourth largest city.

THE WHOOPS DEPARTMENT: In Saturday's entry, I did not spell liberal reporter Suzy Khimm's name correctly; we did in fact spell it as Suzy Khim. She has an excellent Twitter page, which I highly recommend, even if the person reading this happens to be Condi Rice. Khimm wrote an excellent article in the December 2010 issue of "Mother Jones," which is actually to the left of me, about Virginia's militant far right wing Republican attorney general whose name I can't spell any way.

PS_ The answer to our "Rabbit Ears Quiz" from last week was c) 31. "Star Trek" had 79episodes whereas "Space 1999" had 48 episodes. Thus, 31 is the mathematical difference between them. Aysegul Denizli* of Izmir, Turkey, won our grand prize for guessing the correct answer. Our grand prize is indeed an 8-track tape from the
'70s of American honky tonk truck-driving songs.

*- Fake name, though there might very well be a woman somewhere in the world with that name! And, there were no prizes for guessing correctly.....

Things We Leaarned on Google Today_ It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

Actually, it was slightly longer than 20 years ago today, but the first McDonald's opened in Moscow in February of 1990 pre-dating both the end of the USSR as we know it and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The McDonald's at Pushkin Square in Moscow is the world's busiest as it serves up 30,000 customers a day! The fast food giant now operates in 37 cities across Russia.

I also saw a McDonald's in Baku, Azerbaijan, when I was there in 2008. Ironically, I actually liked the food at Misha's Cafe a lot better. The cafe which served Russian food is named after the 1980 Olympic mascot bear, pictured above.

Also, I must profess that I thought I was going to have heart attack (I am only 41 years old, but Dick Cheney* had his first heart attack at age 37), after I dined on a Quarter Pounder combo at a McDonald's in Virginia (yeah, we're not mentioning the town, sorry!). The incident in which my blood pressure went up 35-40 points reminded of the documentary film "Supersize Me" by Morgan Spurlock, who is only a few months younger than me (we were both born in 1970). And, Spurlock is originally from Beckley, West Virginia, which is relatively close to Roanoke, Va., where I am from. His new film "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" about product placement should be in theatres soon.

I should mention that I am craving Milk Duds right now, those things are great for sore throats!

Incidentally, we were originally hoping to ask Google how many McDonald's there were in Moscow, Russia, and we never got an exact answer. However, we did go on the company's web site, and find that there were apparently two McD's in Moscow, Idaho!

*-This does not mean I liked him as veep/president.

DC Diary_ Welcome to Kandahar Province

We are continuing our look at a hectic Day Two of our family DC trip (see "The Daily Vampire" for additional misadventures) with a look at some of the more unusual things that occured on Tuesday.

After visiting a staggering three Smithsonian in one day, we stopped by the Freer Gallery where we saw an art exhibit from avant garde Dutch artist Fiona Tan, which included a video came up of black and white Japanese schoolgirls from the 1960s, as well as a glance into the life of a Turkish immigrant shopkeeper in Amsterdam.

While visiting the gift shop of the gallery, which included many expected things like a cd from Indian sitar master Ravi Shankar, I noticed much to my immediate shock that there was a Lonely Planet Guidebook to.......Afghanistan?!

Of course, like everyone from Dubai to Anchorage, I was wondering what kind of insane lunatic would risk their lives for a frivilous travel adventure, and this coming from someone who went to Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2008!

After doing some web research, I did indeed confirm what everyone knew: there is a State Department advisory against travel to Afghanistan, hmmm....perhaps a war, the resurgence of the Taliban and armed warlords has something to do with that. Additionally, Wikitravel states that one should: Be aware of snakes and insects in Afghanistan, especially scorpions!

But, The Lonely Planet's tourguide for Afghanistan's web site says there are three places which are worth seeing presuming there is a ceasefire in the country for the day. These include the scared sites of Mazar e-Sharif, the caves of Samagan and the ruins of Bamiyan.

Additionally, I found much to my shock that there is an English pub in Kabul called Hare and Hounds (hmmm...I don't think that would be a good place to meet single women, irregradless if they are wearing a burqa or no burqa) and a German restaurant called Deutsche Hof. And, lastly, there is an outdoor cinema in Kabul called the Aina Media Centre where I expect "Brokeback Mountain," "Porky's" and "Debbie Does Dallas" never played.

One can also fly into Kabul from Frankfurt, Istanbul or Dubai, but your travel agent in Toledo, Ohio, might not be sure what to make of your mental state if you tell him your iteniary.

Special Quote of the Day--Happy Bastille Day!

Today, we celebrate Bastill Day, the Fourth of July for France with a quip from French philisopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) who was the subject of the documentary film "Derrida."

July 14th is also a day of celebration in Azerbaijan, though we aren't exactly sure why?!:

"Everything is arranged so that it can be this way, that is what is called culture."

SIDEBAR: The Chapel Hill, NC-based rock band Southern Culture on the Skids, who are known for throwing fried chicken and Little Debbie oatmeal pies to the audience, will be playing several dates out West, including a Sept. 3 show at The Echo in L.A. and a Sept. 16 show at The Rhythm Room in Phoenix.

Quote of the Week- Billy Wilder

This week's Quote of the Week comes from Billy Wilder who directed many Jack Lemmon films, including "Some Like it Hot" (1959) and "The Apartment" (1960), which much to my shock was shown on Azerbaijani tv when I was there in 2008.

Other notable Wilder films include "The Lost Weekend" (1945), "Sunset Blvd." (1950)* and the original "Sabrina" (1954).

Here is the quote:

"If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they will kill you."

*-My personal favorite Wilder film.

Last Ten Women I've Dated (Satire!!!)

Those who know me well, and hopefully few of you who regularly read this blog actually do, know that I have always had some problems going out with girls. (I am using the image of 1920s cinematic hearthrob Rudollph Valentino to show irony).

It really dates back to high school, when those of us of my generation were watching John Hughes movies like "The Breakfast Club," and while I love my life as an independent bachelor even at age 40, I must profess a certain amount of "kiskanchlik" (the Turkish word for jealousy) when I find out that women I am attracted to, even a celebrity bomb-shell, is going out with someone--- or even worse about to marry the guy (especially if he seems be a fill-in-the-blank, and perhaps some of them actually are!).

So, here is a satirical list of 'the last ten women I have dated.' I will explain who they are (not all of them are household names in the USA and Canada), and if in fact they have a significant other (hate the word boyfriend). But, to my knowledge, none of these women are actually married, and they are all alive!

1. Uma Thurman (no surprise here!)
2. Jennifer Love Hewitt
3. Penelope Cruz (she turns 36 today.)
4. Daria Bijak
5. Parker Posey
6. Sibel Kekili
7. Minissha Lambay
8. Susan Sarandon
9. Aleksandra Zhekova
10. Roya (her real name is Roya Aykhan)

For starters, yes, I know Penelope Cruz (happy birthday, btw!) is rumored to be engaged to fellow movie star Javier Bardem, but I did like her when she was making Spanish art films (like the Oscar-winning Spanish film "Belle Epoque") in the early '90s which only true movie buffs like me were going to see.

Jennifer Love Hewitt may seem like a very young woman, but she is 30 years old now. Apparently, she has dated lots of men in the tv/movie industry even as we speak, but she has yet to marry any of them (she was engaged a few years ago).

UMA is the only woman here who is actually my age (well, I am 40 and she is 39, but we were both born in 1970). Assuredly, she is taken!

Daria Bijak is a 23-year-old German Olympic gymnast who just finished her collegiate gymnastics career with the University of Utah. She is one of the most physically attractive gymnasts in recent memory (I am a huge fan of the sport). Of course, like virtually every gorgeous girl on the planet, she has a boyfriend who is apparently a German tennis player.

Parker Posey is an indy film darling. Reportedly, she was romantically involved with some guy who is a novelist. We don't know much about him, but we love her films, especially the ones she did with director Hal Hartley ("Fay Grimm" being the most recent). Her performance in "The House of Yes" was exceptional, but it is a film that relatively few people have seen. Posey is just slightly older than me.

Sibel Kekili is a German actress of Turkish heritage who was also in "Fay Grimm," but in a very small part (the movie was partially filmed in Istanbul, Turkey). Kekili, who was born in 1980, gave a break-through performance in director Fatih Akin's fairly recent German-Turkish film "Head-On." She was the subject of controversy in the German and Turkish press because she was allegedly in some adult films early in her career.

Minissha Lambay is a very attractive Bollywood (Indian) actress. Honestly, we don't know much about her but she was in the hit film "Yahaan (Here). 2005)."

Susan Sarandon is 63 years old. I decided to put an older woman on this list because I found out apparently Warren Beatty actually dated the late Joan Crawford (yes, the one who inspired "Mommie Dearest") in the 1960s when Beatty was one of Hollywood's most swinging young bachelors. Sarandon recently broke up with long-time companion Tim Robbins. She is actually to the left of me (I'm a moderate Democrat. Sarandon is not known for being moderate), but we are both against capital punishment so that would make for a good conversation starter at a Starbucks.

Aleksandra Zekova is a gorgeous Bulgarian snow-skier in her twenties who was in my opinion was the most attractive competitior at the recent Vancouver Olympics.

And, there is Roya, who is like the Madonna of Baku. The Azerbaijani pop singer in her late twenties (we presume) is known for her outlandishness. Roya has even filmed music videos where she performs topless. This is quite amazing because Azerbaijan is a Muslim country! She made it big with the hit single "Bilirsenim" (which we think means "Do You Know Me?" Turkish and Azerbaijani are linguistically similar languages). She recently gave birth to a son, so chances are Roya wouldn't have time for me. Besides, there are (to our knowledge) no Starbucks in Baku!