Halloween Tweets: Mach Ado About Silly String

Greetings to our lovely blog-readers in Wales, Slovakia and Jordan.

Tonight, we focus on tweets from Halloween night.

1) David Corn (liberal reporter): "Since when did most kids come to feel entitled to two pieces of candy, not one, when they trick and treat?"

2) Brent Watts (Channel 7 Roanoke, Va., weather reporter): "Reports of thundersnow in North Carolina as this system vamps up"

3) Bill Amend (cartoonist of "Foxtrot"): "For Halloween, I've dressed up as a bored middle-aged guy surfing the web while imagining everyone he knows having fun."

4) Mother Jones (liberal magazine): "Silly string is illegal here_but only on Halloween."

5) CNN: "A game company wants to help creator of 'Operator' with his operation costs."

6) Scott Simon (NPR reporter): "Man on streets dressed as what daughters call 'wee wee' for Halloween. Does he think women will this debonair"?

7) Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ): "A year ago today, I was sworn in Vice President Biden as a Senator from the great state of New Jersey."

http://www.wdbj7.com/

http://www.foxtrot.com

http://www.motherjones.com

http://scottsimonbooks.com/

We're Back: With a List of the Worst Oscar-Nominated Films That Did NOT win Best Picture

Alas, we have not seen "Airport" (1970) nor "Doctor Dolittle" (1966), but we have seen our fair share of films that got Best Picture Oscar winners that were not worthy of those nominations. Of course, since this blog's editor Tilly Gokbudak is a Turkish-American, who gets 'top billing' will probably not be a surprise!

Here we go:

1) Midnight Express (1978, see image one_ it is of oil wrestlers in Edirne, Turkey, close to the Bulgarian border)

2) Hello Dolly! (1969)

3) Love Story (1970, see image two...we actually like the film as a guilty pleasure)

4) Chocolat (2000)

5) Ghost (1990, see image of Casper the Ghost)

6) The Towering Inferno (1974)

7) District 9 (2009)

8) Seabiscuit (2003)

9) The Reader (2008)

10) Miracle on 34th Street (1946)

Vintage Harvey Comics Covers_Casper the Friendly Ghost #99

Since Free Comic Day will be celebrated here in America and perhaps around the world on Sat., May 4th, 2013, at places like Acme Comics in Greensboro, NC*, we thought we'd post this cover of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" #99 which came out in (to our knowledge) 1966. Assuredly, it's worth more than 12 Cents now!

*- We just found that there is an Acme Comics in Peoria, Ill., as well. We presume this is just a coincidence.

http://www.acmecomics.com

http://www.acmecomicspeoria.com

Happy Belated Halloween

We were hoping to post this before Halloween, but well I was sick and the local libraries and coffee shops are closed on Sundays here in Mount Airy, NC (not really where I am at, though assuredly, everything is closed on Sunday there too!).

Casper the Friendly Ghost is actually a source of controversy amongst his fans as to whether he is the ghost of a dead child or if he is well just a ghost. There is an unsettling cartoon with Casper called "There's Good Boos Tonight," made in 1948, which hints that the former may be right, but we are not comic book historians (though I know folks who actually have that job title!).

Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo brought "Casper to life." The character was first shown in a Paramont Studio cartoon before making his debut for Harvey Comics in 1945. And, there is that supposedly awful movie which came out a few years ago. I imagine my friend Moviezzz has seen it. Of course, that is just an assumption!

Things We Learned From the BBC This Week- Turkish Embassy Hostage-Taker in Jail

Given that relations between Ankara and Jerusalem have soured since both countries elected far-right prime ministers in Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Benjamin Netanyahu respectively, the last thing neutral observers in Washington, DC, would have wanted indeed happened this week.

The BBC reported that Nadim Injaz, a Palestinian man, took hostages in the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday in a misguided effort to seek political asylum.

Injaz, who reportedly suffers from mental illness and attempted a similar effort at the British embassy in Tel Aviv four years ago, took two hostages who were later freed. He entered the embassy with a knife, a can of petrol and a toy gun.

Tensions between Turkey and Israel, once the best of friends, has been considerably tense since Israeli commandos raided the Marmara flotilla on May 31 and killed eight Turkish nationals, including a Turkish-American college student from New York state with dual citizenship, who were attempting to give food and aid to Palestinians in the West Bank. The incident set up a fury of demonstrations in Turkey from all sectors of the country, but the most vocal ones were from conservative Muslims.

The BBC updated the story today by saying that Injaz will be held in jail for at least one week. Injaz's lawyer Avital Horev made a surprising statement when he said that his client was wanted by Palestinian authorities for collaborating with Israeli security agents. This claim was denied by the Israeli government.

SIDEBAR: Yes, yes, yes, it is a running gag on this blog now because I frequently name a given high school somewhere in the United States as The High School of the Week. But, if one pays attention, they will notice that no two schools ever come from the same state.

For Wyoming, we are thus choosing Kelly Walsh High School in Casper- a town that was not named after a certain Harvey Comics character ("Casper the Friendly Ghost").

We have no idea who Kelly Walsh was, but the high school that's named after him/her opened in 1965. The school nickname is The Trojans, and they have 1, 500 students.

Brad Diller is the school principal, and Jim Horne is the football coach.

Interestingly enough, rodeo is offered as a sport at Kelly Walsh High School!

Items for Sale at Duke's Antique Center in Lexington, Va.

Duke's Antique Center is Lexington, Va., offers a fine array of collectibles from very state in the union and all around the globe. It also features of booth full of great stuff which is sold by none other than my mom!

Here are some of the items, you will find at Duke's, which is located at 20 Pinnacle Lane, Lexington, Va. 24450. Phone: 540-463-9511 (please come in today, even if you live in Boise, Ida.!):

$4 "Deliverance" soundtrack lp featuring "The Dueling Banjos" (pictured here).

$3 "Casper the Friendly Ghost" comic book from 1980.

$10 Nixon-Agnew bumper sticker (we're not making this up!)

$40 Buster Keaton sketch print (it's very nice)

$30 Turkish mosque lock from the city of Bursa* (we've had it for a very long time now!)

Mention this ad, and well Duke may not know what you're talking about, but they are open 365 days a year, even on Christmas Day!